


It's a Team Thing

by Paladins_Grace



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blood and Gore, Gen, Hunk (Voltron) Whump, Hunk (Voltron)-centric, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Mind the Rating, Shiro (Voltron)-centric, Team as Family, the others show up but they don't do a lot, this gets kinda violent, unnamed galra soldier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-24 15:42:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18167069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paladins_Grace/pseuds/Paladins_Grace
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple mission. It always was supposed to be simple, wasn’t it? And yet - somehow - it never stayed simple./Oh,/ he thought as the a burning sensation flared, and he sank to his knees. A whine of pain escaped his throat.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday, Shiro-mun!!! :D
> 
> Unbeta'd.
> 
> ~Hunk-mun

It was supposed to be a simple mission. It always was supposed to be simple, wasn’t it? And yet - somehow - it never _stayed_ simple. 

The team had infiltrated a Galra communications hub - the plan was to go in, grab information about trade routes and supplies, then blow it all to kingdom come. It wasn’t a big hub, but taking it out would cripple a whole sector of this galaxy, and it would net them a whole bunch of intel. They’d been planning this for weeks, and they finally had the opportunity to sneak in.

They’d flown down, cloaked, in the Green lion and split up from there. Pidge was working in the main communication terminal, digging up information and making sure that they wouldn’t get caught. Lance and Keith were sneaking around and placing explosives anywhere they thought they would hit hard. That left Hunk and Shiro to target the generator room and mess around with the base’s mechanical structures. 

Hunk finished twisting some wires in his small grenade bomb and glanced up at the terminal where he was working. He was downloading some schematics and other data that hadn’t been copied to the main terminal, and arming the bombs while he waited for the transfer to finish. Shiro was standing above him, Galra arm powering the terminal, watching his back. So far, no one had noticed that they were there. He was almost done, too - just a few more files to copy, then setting the bombs around the room. 

The terminal emitted a quiet _ding_ , letting Hunk know that the transfer was complete. He pulled out the small drive containing the information. “Okay, I’m all done here. Now we just gotta set the explosives up.” He stood up, and the terminal powered down as Shiro removed his hand.

“What’s everyone’s status?” Shiro asked into his comm.

” _We’re about three-quarters of the way around_ ,” Keith said. ” _We’ve seen some patrols but I don’t think they’ve noticed the bombs. We’re hiding them pretty well._ ”

“Pidge?”

There was a brief pause before the she replied. ” _I think they think we’re here. There’s more guards walking around than before. I can block any video feeds they’d find, but they’re looking around for something down there. There’s one guy who’s on your level, Shiro._ ”

“Be careful, team. Start heading back to the Green lion when you’re done.” Shiro got a chorus of hushed affirmatives in response. In the meantime, Hunk had started placing the bombs strategically around the generator. It was built differently than the generators back on the Castle, but he was pretty sure he was finding the right weak spots. Shiro joined him, following his lead. 

A small thud sounded against the door. Hunk glanced up at the entrance nervously. Earlier, he had messed with the locking mechanism to keep any unexpected intruders out, but he wasn’t sure how long it would hold out before the Galra brute-forced their way through the door. 

“Pidge?” he asked quietly into his comm. “We’ve got company.”

” _I don’t see any-_ ” She breaks off with a groan. ” _They must have altered the video feeds on my end, too. I’ll be down there right away, hang tight._ ”

He started placing the bombs a little faster, just in case, as the thuds kept sounding throughout the room, growing louder and more frequent. He only had a few bombs left when the door burst off of its hinges and heavy footsteps pounded into the room. He distantly heard Shiro activate his arm as he ran forward, but then his pace suddenly came to a stuttering halt.

“Champion,” a low voice purred. Oh, _hell_ no. He wasn’t letting Shiro deal with this alone. Hunk dumped the rest of the bombs and drew his bayard, rolling back to his feet and facing the new threat. 

There was only one Galra officer, but he was _big_. He was at least a couple of heads taller than Shiro, and he was a hulking mass of cyborg prosthetics and hefty muscles. He pressed a button on a device in his hand nonchalantly, stepping forward. 

“You’ve been missed, Champion. It’s too bad you’re a Voltron brat now - you could have come back home to us.”

Hunk levelled his bayard at the officer with a snarl and spared a glance at Shiro. The black paladin was frozen, distantly staring at the officer with fear in his eyes. Uh oh. That wasn’t good.

The officer looked at Hunk and his weapon disdainfully. “You think you can stop me from killing both of you?” The clank of approaching sentries started slowly getting louder.

Hunk stared the officer down. He tightened his grip on his bayard, trying to mask his shaking hands, as he stepped closer to Shiro. Pidge was on her way, it was okay, he just had to protect Shiro from a super-strong Galra and a billion sentries - 

The first sentries entered the room, and blaster fire rang out around the two paladins. Hunk held down his trigger, sweeping the room with his own shots. He couldn’t see what was going on and what he was hitting, between the burst of light and the cacophony of noise - there were so many bright flashes - heavy thuds as metal bodies hit the floor - a flash of purple fur on his right, heading for Shiro -

Panic surged as Hunk pushed his bayard in front of the officer. He had to protect Shiro - _he was in danger, frozen, he couldn’t_ \- he had to make sure Shiro was okay until Pidge got here. The officer had gotten much closer in the mayhem, and one hand was holding something - something long, Hunk could tell in his peripheral vision - but the paladin was focused on his face as he lifted his bayard up and squeezed the trigger. He felt a twinge in his gut, and then - the officer slumped with his face frozen in a snarl.

Hunk swayed, and it took him a few seconds to realize that the sentry fire had ceased. The twinge in his gut bloomed again, more insistently, and he reached to wipe the trickle of sweat he could feel on his stomach. His fingers encountered way more sweat than they should have, and he glanced down to find blood pouring from a wound across his belly.

_Oh_ , he thought as the a burning sensation flared, and he sank to his knees. A whine of pain escaped his throat.

” _Hunk? Hunk, what’s going on?_ ” Voices assaulted his ears through his helmet, and he couldn’t stop another moan of pain as his vision swam. His friends’ voices kept going, but he couldn’t understand them - they were worried about something, he could tell. Worried about what? About Shiro? Shiro was having a flashback - right, they were probably worried about Shiro.

“Sh-Shir-” he tried to say, but he was suddenly very tired, and his voice wasn’t quite working how it was supposed to. He let himself fall onto the ground, unable to hold himself up. That hurt too, and the pain was spreading all over and he couldn’t tell what was happening anymore.

“Hunk?” Shiro’s voice cut through his thoughts. Something was wrong with Shiro’s voice - it wasn’t supposed to sound like that, but he couldn’t tell what was different about it. “Oh God, Hunk, I’ve got you, I’m right here.” Hunk felt something warm press against his forehead, and that felt nice, but then something pressed against his stomach and it _hurt_ , it felt like he was burning from the inside out, but he couldn’t tell why. His vision was swimming and he could barely see Shiro’s face hovering above him now and - oh, he was lying on his back, looking up at Shiro.

“Shir- hurts,” he panted. He was scared - something was very wrong, but his limbs were so heavy and that was definitely blood he had seen earlier. Why was he bleeding? He wasn’t supposed to be bleeding, he was supposed to be protecting Shiro. Distantly, he registered the sound of blood roaring in his ears. That might have been Yellow, though, trying to reach him from his hanger on the Castle. He couldn’t tell anymore. 

He shifted his head to get a better look at his abdomen, but the light pressure on his forehead shifted again, keeping his head in place.

“No no no, Hunk, don’t look.  Just focus on me. The others are on their way, but I need you to keep breathing, okay?” The wrongness was still there in Shiro’s voice - it was tight, not calm and deep like it usually was. It wasn’t supposed to be like that.

Hunk couldn’t shake the sense of _wrongness_ that permeated everything - Shiro’s voice, the fire burning in his gut and keeping him pinned to the ground, the rush of sound that he couldn’t figure out. Shiro was saying something, something about breathing, but he couldn’t focus on that - it hurt too much and he couldn’t get enough air and everything was so _loud_. The fire in his gut rippled again, and a cry ripped itself free from his throat. He couldn’t distinguish anything. His thoughts were a jumble of panic and pain and sweat and blood and protection and _pain_.

“Hunk, look at me,” Shiro’s voice ordered. That sounded a bit better. The steel was back in Shiro’s voice, where it belonged. He didn’t want to disappoint Shiro. He didn’t think he’d be able to open his eyes - when had he closed them? - but he did, somehow, and found Shiro watching him intently. Shiro was easier to focus on, when he could see him right there.

“Good, they’re almost here, just keep focusing on me.” He said some other things that Hunk didn’t catch, and then his vision whited out as the pain consumed him. When he could see again, Shiro was back above him, saying something soothingly. God, his whole body ached, and he felt like lead. He heard some other voices and it felt like someone might have been touching his hand, but it was so, so distant. Something pressed against his stomach and his world lit up again, and then he blessedly, blessedly passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

Shiro was tugged back towards the present by the worried voices of his team coming over the comms, but everything suddenly slammed into place when Hunk made a pained attempt to say his name.

He took a moment to assess his surroundings ( _you’re not on Sendak’s ship, you’re with your team, it’s okay_ ) to find all the Galra in the room shot to pieces, a uniformed officer with a blaster hole in his stomach lying nearby, and then his stomach plummeted when his gaze landed on Hunk, who was collapsed in a heap with blood pooling around him. 

“Hunk? Oh God, Hunk, I’ve got you, I’m right here.” Shiro knelt down beside him and rested a comforting hand on his forehead. “I’m gonna roll you onto your back, okay? I need to see what happened.” Wow, he really wasn’t doing a good job of hiding the dismay in his voice. He took a deep breath before rolling Hunk onto his back by the hip, ignoring the gasp of pain that Hunk emitted, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the wound stretching across Hunk’s stomach.

It wasn’t pretty. A long, deep cut stretched from his hip to his sternum, and it was bleeding profusely. A quick glance at the officer confirmed that yes, he did indeed have a sort of sword, which was coated in blood. In _Hunk’s_ blood. Bile rose in Shiro’s throat as he pressed his other hand against the wound in some sort of attempt to keep Hunk’s guts inside his body and to stem the bleeding.

” _Shiro, what’s happening?_ ” Pidge’s voice calls through his helmet.

“Hunk took a blow. He’s got a gash and he’s bleeding out, and I can hear sentries coming.” Shiro tried in vain to hide the shakiness in his voice. Whether it was shaking because of Hunk’s injury or because of the flashback, he couldn’t tell.

” _We’re on our way,_ ” Lance replied, voice tight.

“Shir- hurts,” Hunk whined. His gaze was locked on to Shiro’s face above him, and fear and pain was evident in his eyes. _God_ , Shiro kicked himself mentally. None of these kids were supposed to get hurt - not for him. One of them had gotten sliced open trying to protect him, and he was _terrified_. They both were. Underneath his hand, Hunk squirmed, trying to move his head.

“No no no, Hunk, don’t look.  Just focus on me. The others are on their way, but I need you to keep breathing, okay?” Shiro gently but firmly held his head in one place, keeping him from seeing his injury. Hunk’s breathing had already picked up a notch, and Shiro didn’t think he could mitigate a panic attack on top of all of this.

In response, Hunk’s eyes slid closed and his breathing kicked up another notch. Shiro thought his skin was developing a sheen of sweat, too. None of those were good signs, especially now that he could hear the marching footsteps of approaching sentries getting louder. 

“Breathe. It’s gonna be okay, but I need you to breathe - in, and out, and in….” Shiro checked Hunk’s wound again. “Oh, _quiznack_.” The flow of blood wasn’t slowing down, and the wound almost looked _angrier_ now - the skin around the gash was bubbling a little, and it was raised and peeling and slowly becoming more inflamed.

” _We’re almost there. There’s - a lot of sentries,_ ” Keith reported. ” _We’re gonna keep them from getting close to you, Shiro._ ” Sure enough, the sounds of combat joined the approaching footsteps.

” _I’m on my way too,_ ” Pidge panted. ” _I’m getting Green and then heading to your location. Get ready for an extraction._ ”

“Understood.” Shiro’s voice was tight, and the order to _please hurry_ went unspoken. Shiro replaced his hand over the gash to try to stop the bleeding - and Hunk’s corresponding cry of pain sent knives of guilt into his heart.

“Hunk, look at me,” he ordered firmly, mustering as much strength and determination as he could. Hunk’s eyes fluttered open slowly, and it was a long couple of moments before he could focus on Shiro. “Good, they’re almost here, just keep focusing on me. Pidge is getting her Lion and then we’re gonna go back to the Castle and get you fixed up. Just hold on for a few more minutes.” He couldn’t keep the desperation from creeping back into his voice. He couldn’t let any of his team die out here in space - he couldn’t. He didn’t know what he’d do if he lost any of them out here -

” _Incoming!_ ” Pidge yelled. The ship shook, and a gust of air blew down the corridor outside the room. ” _Get in, get in, get in, get in! I’m right outside your room, Shiro!_ ”

“I’m sorry, Hunk, but this is going to hurt,” he says in a rush before hefting Hunk up and slinging his arm over his shoulder, bolting for the door. Hunk let out a pained cry, his face contorting even more. Shiro stumbled a little under his load before he shifted to let his prosthetic take more of the weight. When he got into the hallway, Keith stepped closer to help Shiro with their teammate’s bulk - trying their best not to jostle Hunk too much, although they weren’t having much luck, going by the gasps of pain - and the two of them started shuffling to the Green lion, who had her head stuck through the wall of the ship. Lance trailed behind them, picking off approaching sentries with his rifle. 

Shiro set Hunk down on the floor of the Green lion’s cockpit and resumed kneeling beside him. Keith hovered anxiously, taking in the wound and letting out a low keen of distress. The Green lion jolted as Pidge took off, and Lance appeared in the cockpit a moment later, blanching at the sight of Hunk. 

“Is he gonna be okay?” Lance asked, stumbling to his knees beside his friend.

“Once we get back to the Castle, yes,” Shiro replied. “Keith, get the bandages from the med kit. We’ll need to disinfect this and stop the bleeding as much as we can.” Keith nodded, clambering to his feet to obey, and Shiro leaned over Hunk and cupped his face in the hand that wasn’t covered in blood. “We’re heading back now, we’re in Green, we’re almost there, Hunk, we’ll get you patched up.” Hunk looked back up in Shiro’s, but his pupils were wide and unfocused, and he clearly wasn’t processing anything that was going on. His breathing was still faster, and his skin was definitely clammy and sweatier than it was before, which did nothing to quell Shiro’s anxiety.

Keith unceremoniously dropped the med kit beside Shiro and pulled out a roll of bandages. Lance, meanwhile, was holding Hunk’s hand and rubbing his thumb over his knuckles, murmuring something quietly to him in between Hunk’s choking gasps and sobs.

“We’re gonna have to disinfect it before it gets too bad,” Keith mumbled, gesturing to the wound as he exchanged the bandages for a pair of scissors to cut the undersuit away. The skin was flaming, now; the edges were swelling and curling in on themselves, pus was forming, and small blisters were cropping up only to pop moments later as Hunk’s breathing irritated them.

Shiro nodded in grim agreement as he opened up the disinfectant wipes. After a moment to collect himself, he started gingerly wiping around the wound, aiming to work his way from the outside closer to the centre.

Hunk _writhed_ under Shiro’s touch. He let out a shrill cry of pain, trying to get away, and Shiro grit his teeth as he kept working. 

“Keith, hold him in place,” Shiro said, grabbing a clean wipe. Keith nodded, adjusting his position, and Lance’s murmuring grew sharper as he desperately tried to comfort Hunk. Shiro took a deep, grounding breath before resuming his work. Alarm flared in his gut as Hunk suddenly fell still, and Lance’s voice grew thin in obvious worry. Shiro quickly checked for a pulse and sagged in relief when he found it - fluttery and weak, but still there - and then guilt peppered him when he realized he was grateful that Hunk was unconscious and not processing the pain.

“We’re almost there. Coran’s got a pod ready,” Pidge said as she popped her head around the seat to check on the boys. She paled at the sight of the wound and quickly turned around to pilot her lion.

Shiro nodded absently and kept cleaning with swift, precise motions, noting that Hunk’s skin was absolutely pallid now and that the wound was still bleeding sluggishly. Shortly after, the Green lion jolted slightly as they landed in the hangar. Shiro finished the disinfection and was pressing bandages against the wound just as the lion’s jaw opened and Coran climbed on board with a hovering stretcher. His brow wrinkled in distress as he took in Hunk’s state. Wordlessly, he and Shiro lifted Hunk onto the stretcher, and then Coran was off like a shot, pushing Hunk towards the infirmary with the others speeding after him.

Allura was waiting for them in the infirmary, and she and Coran quickly changed Hunk into a pod suit and placed him in a pod as the others worriedly watched on. There was a collective sigh of relief as Hunk’s body went completely slack after a moment.

Despite the fact that most of them were covered in blood and gore, none of them made any moves to leave. Lance slid down so he was sitting on the floor, and Keith took a step back from the pod. Shiro watched his teammate’s unresponsive face, clenching and unclenching his fists as he processed what had just happened. 

Really, this was his fault, he realized with a sinking feeling. Hunk took a blow for him because he’d had a flashback in the middle of a fight. It should have been him that was gutted. He was supposed to protect them, not the other way around. Never mind that his PTSD tended to rear its head at the most _inconvenient_ times - it was a legitimate danger to the others. Hunk could have - would have - died, and it would have been _his fault_ -

Shiro’s thoughts were abruptly startled when a hand gently laid on his shoulder. He glanced up at Keith, who was looking at him in concern, before realizing that both of his hands were clenched too tightly. He took a deep breath, releasing as much tension as he could from his arms. Keith didn’t say anything, but gently squeezed Shiro’s shoulder in reassurance. 

He didn’t know how long they all stayed like that. Eventually, the team started trickling out to clean up and get food. Pidge informed Shiro in a low voice as she passed him that she had detonated the bombs when they were en route back to the Castle. The Galra who had done this to Hunk definitely did not exist anymore. He nodded in acknowledgement, unable to formulate words for her.

Finally, only he was left. He realized that he was still covered in dried blood - _Hunk’s_ blood, he thought in dismay, Hunk’s blood should be in his own body, not out here - and he tore himself away from watching the pod to go clean up. He let the pounding heat of the shower ease the tension he still carried, and he found that he was still shaking. 

He wasn’t a stranger to death (or near death), of course. Hell, how many times had he himself been close to dying since he first got launched into space? How many people had he _killed_?

But this was different. This was a member of his family. And it all turned out okay, it was okay, he reminded himself, Hunk was going to be fine. They both were safe. The pod was cleaning out the infection and stitching him together and replenishing his blood right now. He was _okay_.

So why didn’t it feel okay?

The warm shower couldn’t do much to dispel the guilt pitting in his stomach, or the shakiness lingering in his limbs. Electing to skip food - he didn’t think he could stomach anything right now - he grabbed a blanket and headed back to the infirmary, where the team slowly began to reconvene, prepared to wait out the pod.


	3. Chapter 3

The first thing Hunk noticed was the sudden breeze on his face. It was warm, warmer than the rest of him. The second thing he noticed was that he was cold - a pervasive cold, all the way down to his bones, permeating everything, but he was somewhere warmer now than he just was. The third thing he noticed was his lion purring quietly and contentedly in the back of his mind. The fourth thing he noticed was that his limbs were heavier than normal, like the chill had added a weight to him, and then he realized that he didn’t think he could stay upright much longer. Cracking his eyes open, he stepped forward, trying to balance himself.

Hands steadied his shoulders, holding him up, and Shiro’s eyes crinkled as he offered a small, relieved smile. “How are you feeling?” he asked softly.

Hunk took a moment to assess himself before answering. “Cold. Sore. Heavy.”

Shiro didn’t say anything, but pulled Hunk closer into a firm hug, with his flesh hand at the base of his neck and the other arm wrapped across his back. Hunk sank into the hug, leaning against Shiro and wrapping his arms around him in return, letting his body heat spread and warm his chilled skin. He wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that before Shiro shifted slightly to speak.

“Don’t do that again,” he said hoarsely. 

“Do what?”

Shiro was silent a moment before replying. “Get hit for me.”

Hunk pulled out of the hug slightly to look at Shiro’s face. “I was watching your back, Shiro. Because we’re a team. I can’t just leave you unprotected.”

Shiro pressed his eyes shut and took a shaky breath, which Hunk felt more than he saw. 

“And yeah, there are risks in a war. I know we could all get seriously hurt or - die - and I don’t _want_ to die, but that’s a risk we take every time we go out there. Look at me, Shiro,” Hunk said gently. Shiro slowly made eye contact, and he could see all the guilt and fear and pain that Shiro was carrying in them.

“This wasn’t your fault. Teams are supposed to watch out for each other. And look, I’m okay now. You guys took care of me.”

Shiro took another shaky breath. “How much do you remember - after -”

Hunk thought back. He remembered shooting the sentries storming into the room, the officer coming in and saying something, and Shiro freezing up, then firing, and then...pain.

“Not much,” he admitted. “I was covering for you, and then there was a lot of blood -” he shuddered “- and everything hurt a lot, and then I woke up here.” Shiro’s arms tightened around him again, and he leaned back into the hug. 

Shiro was quiet for a few moments, and when he spoke, his voice was rough. “We’re glad to have you back, Hunk.”

There was a rustling noise from behind Shiro. “Hunk?” Lance’s voice was drowsy at first, but quickly cleared. “Hunk! Guys, Hunk’s out!” Some thumps and groans sounded from Keith and Pidge before they processed Lance’s words, and soon the others were swarming around him and Pidge and Lance were worming their way into the hug. Hunk relaxed further as their heat surrounded him, warming the chill in his bones.

“Shiro, you didn’t wake us up _before_ he got out,” Pidge groused, jabbing their leader lightly in the ribs.

“Sorry, guys,” Shiro apologized. “You were all finally asleep, and I...wanted reassurance, I guess.”

No one voiced anything at that.

“...Was it bad?” Hunk asked hesitantly. Lance nodded silently into his back, where he was wrapped around his friend like an octopus.

“It wasn’t pretty,” Keith said dourly from where he was hovering outside of the hug. Silence hung heavy in the air.

“Thanks, guys,” Hunk murmured. “I don’t remember what happened, really...just the - the pain.” He swallowed. “But I’m okay. I think. Or I will be. Maybe after breakfast?”

The others started peeling themselves off of him after that, picking up chatter as they started making their way to the kitchen. Shiro lingered beside Hunk, supporting him, but Hunk didn’t miss the way Shiro subtly - or not-so-subtly - glanced over him with concern. 

“It’s not your fault,” he murmured to Shiro. “I covered you, you covered me. It’s a team thing.” At Shiro’s unhappy look, Hunk stopped moving completely and faced him. “I know, it’s not great. And you blame yourself and want to protect us. But sometimes we need to protect you, too, okay?” 

Shiro nodded grudgingly. “I know. And it’s going to happen sooner or later, but I don’t have to _like_ it.”

“Yeah,” Hunk agreed, leaning on Shiro again. “Space sucks.” 

Shiro let out a snort, making him grin. “C’mon, let’s get you some food. We’ll talk about this later.” 

As they resumed their shuffle to the kitchen, Hunk snuck a look at Shiro. He didn’t seem pleased or happy about any of the events that recently unfolded, but he seemed marginally more at peace than he did when Hunk first got out of the pod, and that was part of being a team, too.

Because even though a team was supposed to protect each other, they also were supposed to support and encourage one another.

And Hunk could definitely do that.

**Author's Note:**

> And that's it! Thanks for reading!
> 
> This is my first stab (heh) at writing whump, so comments/reviews would be much appreciated!


End file.
